Torino v Wolves: Inside track on the Serie A side

Wolves make the trip to Turin this week as they do battle with Torino - get to know the Serie A side here.

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Former Watford boss Walter Mazzarri is now in charge of Torino.

We spoke with Tom Griffiths from CalcioEngland, Serie A writer Chloe Beresford, and Marco D'Onofrio from StereoSerieA to get a proper look at the Italians.

See what they had to say here...

How have Torino fared in Serie A over recent campaigns, have they been one of the top performers in Italy?

TG: Torino have been a consistent upper mid-table side since returning to Serie A in 2012/13.

They finished seventh last season, missing out on European qualification by just three points. Torino’s performance last season was slightly above expectations given their annual budget.

Torino only learned they would be participating in this season’s Europa League competition at the very end of June after AC Milan were banned as a consequence of financial breaches. They’ve had to adjust their pre-season schedule accordingly.

CB: No, Torino have been a mid-table outfit for some time now, last making the Europa League in 2014/15 and before that their last outing in European competition was the Intertoto Cup in 2002.

Last term, Walter Mazzarri made them very tough to break down, and they only conceded 37 times in 38 domestic fixtures.

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Yet they only made the Europa League due to AC Milan's Financial Fair Play problems, as the Rossoneri voluntarily gave up their spot in this year's competition in order to settle the case against them.

MD: Torino have finished in the top half of the table for the last three seasons – barely missing out on European competition last year by ending the campaign in 7th.

However, with Milan being sanctioned for FIFA Fair Play violations Il Toro find themselves back in Europe for the first time since the 2014-2015 season.

What sort of style of play can we expect to see from Torino against Wolves?

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TG: Former Watford manager Walter Mazzarri had Torino set up in a well-drilled 3-5-2 last season.

The backline is the foundation of the team. Salvatore Sirigu was a revelation on his return to Italy from PSG last summer.

Torino FC Tutti i gol 2018-2019

The central defensive pairing of Nicolas N’koulou and Armando Izzo were key to their success too, with Izzo breaking into the Italy team at the end of last season. Together they conceded less than a goal per game on average last season.

The wing-backs (typically some combination of Christian Ansaldi, Ola Aina and Lorenzo Di Silvestri) are a key attacking outlet for Torino, providing the ammunition for Andrea Bellotti up front. Bellotti tends to be paired with a secondary striker, such as Iago Falque.

The rest of the midfield is industrious and hard to break down, without being exceptional. Tomas Rincon is usually the holding midfielder, whilst Daniele Baselli gets up and down to support attacks.

The main caveat to all of this is that in the Europa League qualifiers so far, Mazzarri has gone for a modified 3-4-3. However, this more offensive line up might be a reflection of the calibre of opposition they were facing.

CB: You will see a team that are very difficult to break down, they concede very few goals, but also like to hit teams on the break, hoping one of their strikers can finish any chances created for them.

MD: Head coach Walter Mazzarri may be best known for his time at Napoli when he produced some exciting football with the likes of Marek Hamsik, Edinson Cavani and Ezequiel Lavezzi leading the way.

His style of play has not changed much wherever he has gone, staying loyal to playing with three at the back.

They are dangerous on the counter-attack and could go from defence to attack in seconds which is Wolves will really need to be careful not to concede.